Exclusive! Kendall Jenner Is the New Face of Calvin Klein Jeans—Her Secret for a Perfect Denim Belfie

If there were ever any doubts that Kendall Jenner was destined for supermodel stardom, now is the time to quell them: Today, Jenner is following in the footsteps of greats like Kate Moss and Brooke Shields as the new face of Calvin Klein Jeans.

The campaign, shot by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Melanie Ward, celebrates the brand’s new limited-edition Denim Series—a unisex offering inspired by athletic and urban streetwear and will be available exclusively at Opening Ceremony's New York City and Los Angeles stores starting April 15.

“I’m honored to be a part of it, honestly,” said Jenner last night over the phone. “It’s iconic. It’s [a campaign] I would have seen all over and thought how cool it would be to be a part of.”

Jenner said the shoot was “super fun,” partially owing to the bad weather. “I mean the whole day was rainy,” she said. “When it rains, I have good energy, I’m in a good mood.”

Of course, she kept both Moss and Shields in mind while shooting, too. “They’re always my inspiration for anything,” she said. And though she’s too young to remember the moment when it came out, Jenner says the Calvin Klein campaign featuring Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg is one of her all-time favorites.

So, if she had to choose, would she consider herself more of a Kate or a Brooke?“Kate Moss I guess,” she said. “She’s someone I’ve always looked up to.” Not a surprise, given that Jenner has always been singularly focused on becoming a model.

One has to wonder if growing up in the public eye and having her picture repeatedly taken by the paparazzi gives Jenner an edge when she’s on set. “Paparazzi pictures? No, those definitely did not help. Do the paparazzi help anything?” she asked rhetorically. “But being in front of the camera, yes; building your own self-confidence.”

As for if she's ever been horrified by how she looks in those paparazzi photos, Jenner said, “Yeah, don’t we all do that? See pictures of ourselves and be like, I did not look like that in person. I swear I didn’t look like that.” It’s hard to imagine a bad photo of her, but perhaps Jenner is referring to what she dubs her most embarrassing denim phase: “My rainbow-colored jeans. I had a red pair, a blue pair, a yellow pair, a turquoise pair . . . literally every color of the rainbow.” Doesn’t sound too embarrassing to me. “It wasn’t cute,” she said. “Go look at pictures.”

These days, Jenner sticks mostly to skinny jeans in neutral colors, though she also appreciates a “good torn-up, worn-in, messed-up, dirty” pair, both of which she likes to wear with vintage rocker tees. When it comes to fit, Jenner likes her denim high and tight. “For me personally, I think high-waisted or midi-rise always works. Something that’s tight around my butt and lifts it.”

Speaking of butts, we had to ask Jenner a very serious, important question: Namely, how to take a good belfie. Turns out, she’s unaware of the term (surprising, given her sister’s proclivities for them), though she’s certainly familiar with the concept.

“I’ve never heard of belfie, but I’ve definitely taken a couple of butt selfies,” she said. The secret, according to Jenner, to capturing l’essence du derrière is all about perspective. “You gotta know your own angles,” she said. And then, after some thought, she added: “And maybe [shoot it from] the side, so you can make your butt look all cute.”

Watch what happens when we give Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid a selfie stick: